Friend Like Me
by onceuponanevilangel
Summary: When Emma decided to practice magic on her own, she didn't have any intention of summoning a succubus from Hell. She also didn't intend to let said succubus find out about her feelings for Regina, and above all else, Emma did not mean to launch the succubus on a quest to get her and Regina together. Somehow it happened anyway. Oops.
1. Chapter 1

**This is Big Bang Story 2/2. It was based on art by kjdawson80 over on AO3 and was betaed by ohthesefeelingz who was absolutely great. Once again, big thanks to the mods and I hope you enjoy the story! **

Emma was bored. It was a chilly Saturday afternoon and all she was doing was staring out the window, watching raindrops carve clear trails on the gray panes. Ordinarily at this time she would be in the vault practicing magic with Regina before they'd have dinner at Granny's with Henry, but Regina had called that morning to say that the lesson was cancelled. There was no explanation as to why and Emma had no other plans, so she settled down to watch the rain.

It was quiet in the loft that afternoon. Snow and Charming had taken Neal over to play with Ella's little girl, Alexandra, and Henry was staying at the mansion with Regina until Sunday.

When Regina had called, Emma had been a bit disappointed that there wasn't going to be a lesson, but she had figured that it wasn't too late to make some plans. What she hadn't counted on was Ruby working the late shift, Mulan going out on a date with Aurora, and Belle planning on spending a wild night cataloging new books in the library collection. There was no one else that she could think of to hang out with. There wasn't even any paperwork for her to do at the moment.

So she sat and listened to the rain as she stared blankly out the window at the gray sky.

Then it hit her. She knew from experience that she had a pretty bad track record with ideas, like the time she filled her science teacher's fish tank with grape Jell-O, but her current idea seemed harmless enough. After all, Regina had told her to practice.

She was on her feet in seconds and had already slipped on her jacket before she could give her plan a second thought. Regina had been telling her that the key to improvement was practice, so by that logic, Emma didn't even need the brunette to be there. She could go down to the vault and practice levitating some candles or something on her own.

She could imagine the impressed smirk that Regina would give her at their next lesson on Wednesday night; the glimmer of pride that would appear in those dark eyes. That alone was enough to make up Emma's mind. She tugged on her boots, grabbed her keys, and hurried outside before she could question herself.

Emma had gotten quite used to the vault thanks to her regular visits with Regina. It always made her a bit uncomfortable to push aside the coffin above the hidden stairway and walking past Cora's coffin made her shiver, but once she got into the vault itself, she felt right at home. Even the rhythmic beating of the hearts in their gilded boxes that had freaked her out during her first few lessons were simply background noise now.

She strode with confidence to the shelves on the far wall where Regina kept all her spell books and magic supplies. There was a row of stubby candles in dusty candlesticks sitting there. Emma grabbed a few of them and set them in a circle around her on the floor.

In her previous lesson, Regina had started teaching her how to conjure flames from a distance, so Emma decided to start with that. If it worked the way it was supposed to, she might even try combining the powers and levitate the candles at the same time. Regina would be so proud of her.

Emma could envision the tiny smirk that would stretch across those red lips and the twinkle of pride that would be reflected in those chocolate eyes. That alone was enough to motivate Emma.

She focused on the candle directly in front of her and called up all her energy to make it light.

She could feel the magic inside of her, swirling and pulsing and thoroughly alive. She squeezed her eyes shut in concentration as she worked to make it obey her. The magic grew warmer as it moved into her fingertips and Emma bit her lip as she slicked her wrist the way Regina had taught her. The magic flared outwards and when Emma opened her eyes, she saw a tiny tongue of flame flickering on the candle's wick.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, punching the air in excitement.

It took her a few tries and quite a bit of energy to get the other four candles lit, but she managed it. Regina was right; practice really did make it a little easier.

Emma gave herself a few minutes to let her magic recharge before she started on the hard part: levitating the candles. She closed her eyes again and moved her hands as though she was lifting something. She felt her magic move and concentrated all of her energy on making the candles hover above the ground.

Once she was sure that was giving it all she had, she opened one eye to find the candles floating about a foot above the floor.

"I'm doing it," Emma said incredulously. "I am actually doing this."

She started to move her hands in an attempt to make the candles move with her, but the moment she twisted her wrist, she felt her magic flare out once before sputtering out and dying altogether. The candles dropped to the floor, still lit, and rolled around on the stone floor. The flames still flickered from various spots around the room, though, so Emma still counted it as a win.

She leaned down and grabbed four of the candles that had rolled into the corners of the room. She set them back in the circle before getting down on her hands and knees to retrieve the last candle that had landed underneath one of the shelves.

When Emma looked under the shelf, she saw an object illuminated in the candle's dim light. She grabbed both the candle and the object, a big, dusty book with a gold gilt cover, and straightened up. She set the candle in its place in the circle and moved to put the book back on the shelf where it probably belonged, but curiosity got the best of her. She brushed off most of the dust and carefully opened the book to one of the central pages.

The pages were wrinkled and brittle and yellow with age, but the black ink was still clear. Emma recognized a few words here and there from a semester of Latin in some high school or another. One phrase was written entirely in Latin and she slowly read the words aloud.

"Demon ego præcipio tibi et vocare. Huh. That doesn't sound good."

It didn't take long for her to regret her decision.

The floor beneath her feet began to get hot. She jumped quickly out of the circle of candles and closed the book, but not before a crack appeared in the center of the circle. Black smoke started pouring out into the air. Emma instinctively used her arm to cover her nose and mouth and started looking for a way out of the vault, but the smoke stood between her and the stairs.

In hindsight, reading an actual spell out of an actual spell book, no matter what language it was in, without Regina was probably not her brightest moment.

She watched the black smoke billow around the vault, crackling and popping with little silver bolts of lightning. It smelled awful, like rotten eggs. Wind whipped through the vault, tossing candles, bottles, and spell books around the room.

Then a high, cold laugh pierced the air. Emma could feel goose bumps forming on her flesh and she gulped as the smoke started to clear. The laugh was getting louder and louder and as the smoke continued to thin out, the silhouette of a figure appeared.

"Who dares summon me from the depths of the underworld?"

It was official. Emma was in deep shit.


	2. Chapter 2

There was a woman - well, not quite a woman - standing in the center of the circle of candles. It…she…the figure was completely red from head to toe. Her eyes were coal black. Long red hair streaked with black cascaded down her back. A pair of black horns grew from her temples and two leathery red wings sprouted from her shoulder blades.

"Man, it feels good to be out of there," the woman said. She looked around the dusty vault, taking in all the details. Then her eyes fell on Emma who was standing there staring and looking completely dumbstruck. "Are you the one who summoned me?"

"Yes?" Emma said hesitantly.

"Well, thank you," the woman said. "You have no idea how boring it gets down there."

Emma nodded.

"Oh, where are my manners? I almost forgot to introduce myself. I'm the daughter of the devil, destroyer of worlds, the first succubus, and mother of demons, but you can call me Lilith. And you are?"

"Emma. Emma Swan. Sheriff, Savior, you know."

It's a pleasure to meet you, Emma Swan. Now, go ahead and name your wish."

"What?" Emma asked. She was still staring open-mouthed at the succubus standing before her.

Lilith rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Don't tell me you didn't know what the spell does."

"Well…"

"Seriously?" Lilith asked. Emma nodded and the succubus huffed out a breath. "Do they just let anyone off the streets come in here and practice magic? No offense, of course. You're just lucky that it was me that showed up and not someone like Hastur or Abbadon. They would have torn you apart."

That didn't make Emma feel any better. She swallowed hard, still not taking her eyes off of Lilith.

"The spell is used to invoke a demon, normally a succubus or an incubus, and bind them to do the will of the caster. Essentially, you get one wish and I'll grant it for you. Whatever your heart's deepest desire is, name it and it will be yours. I'm not bound by the same rules as genies, either. Nothing's off the table here."

"That's okay," Emma said. Her voice was shaky and her hands were shaking. "It's cool. It was kind of an accident anyway. I don't need anything."

"That's not how it works," Lilith replied. "You summoned me and I can't return to where I came from unless you make a wish."

"Okay, then I wish I had a bear claw."

"Still no. Your wish has to actually be a wish. As in 'heart's deepest desire' kind of thing."

"I wish for the world's biggest bear claw?"

"No can do," Lilith said. "But, I can tell you what you want."

Before Emma had a chance to say anything else, Lilith had stepped out of the circle of candles and swooped close enough to touch her long red fingers to Emma's temple. The succubus fixed her black eyes on the blonde's green ones and just stared for a long moment. Then her face broke into a huge smile.

"So," Lilith said, taking a step backward. "You and the queen, huh?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Emma muttered, completely unconvincingly.

"Yes, you do!" Lilith squealed. She sounded like an excited teenage girl. "That's it then! I'm going to help you two fall in love."

"You really don't have to do that."

"Oh I know, but that's what you really want and accident or not, I'm here now and I need something to do."

"No, I mean seriously. It's fine. I don't need a normal person to interfere in my love life, let alone a demon."

"What was that?" Lilith asked. Her eyes flashed white and Emma felt her heart stop in her chest as the succubus's icy gaze landed on her.

"Nothing!" Emma squeaked, bringing the spell book she was still holding up to shield her face.

"Great! I'll see you later then."

The succubus started to turn away, but Emma called out, "Wait a second. Magic always comes with a price. What's in it for you?"

Lilith looked back over her shoulder and flashed the blonde a devilish grin. "If and when I succeed in granting your wish, I'll let you know."

Then there was a puff of sulfuric black smoke and when it cleared, the demon was gone.

Emma wasted no time in shoving the spell book back into the shadows it had come from. She made a mental note to never read anything from a strange book ever again, no matter how familiar the language looked. She blew out the candles and threw them haphazardly back onto the shelf she had found them on. Forget being proud or pleased. If she didn't find a way to fix this and fast, Regina was going to kill her.

Emma made sure that everything in the vault was as she had found it except, of course, for the scent of sulfur that was lingering in the air. Once she was satisfied, she raced up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

When she got outside, it was still pouring rain and she sprinted all the way to her bug. She got in and grabbed her phone off of the passenger seat. She took a deep breath to give herself a chance to get her thoughts in order before dialing.

The phone rang twice before she was greeted with a familiar Australian lilt.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Belle. It's Emma."

"Emma, hi. What's up?"

"I need you to do me a favor," Emma said.

"Okay, what do you need?"

"I need you to have Gold meet me at the shop in ten minutes. It's kind of an emergency."

"Is that all?" Belle asked.

"Yeah."

"Alright. No problem. Is everything okay?"

"I hope so," Emma said. "Have fun with your books."

"I will," Belle said. "And Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"Whatever it is, I'm sure you can handle it."

"I hope you're right."


	3. Chapter 3

Emma spent the entire drive to the shop trying to figure out what she was going to say to Gold. She had figured that he'd be the safest person to go to for help as he was far less likely than one of the fairies to tell her parents and he wasn't Regina. Emma was really hoping that she could get this mess cleared up without having to bring Regina in on it. That would be bad to say the least.

When she pulled up to the shop, the lights were already on inside. She got out of her car and jogged over to the door in the hopes of getting inside without getting soaked by the rain. She had no such luck. By the time she got inside, her hair was hanging around her face in sopping tendrils.

"Good afternoon, Miss Swan," Gold said. He was standing behind the counter with his hands resting on the glass top. "I understand you need to speak to me about something?"

"Yeah," Emma said. "What do you know about demons? Specifically, succubae. More specifically, how to send one back to where it came from."

"Now that's very specific, don't you think?"

"I am so not in the mood for your mind games right now," Emma growled, stepping closer to the counter and putting her hands on the counter so she could mimic Gold's position. "I just need some help."

"Well, I'm afraid I can't give it," Gold said. "You see, demons, especially succubae, are a business that I'd rather not get mixed up in."

"What do you mean?"

"Only that there is only one spell I know of that could be used to summon a succubus and if you used it, then said succubus is bound by the spell to complete her task. There is no way to send her back before she does."

"There isn't a counter-curse or something that I can use to reverse the spell?" Emma asked.

"Afraid not, dearie."

"And there's nothing else that you'll do to help me?"

"Until it starts to have a direct impact on my life, no. I have more important matters to attend to at the moment. Good afternoon, Miss Swan."

"You're a bastard," Emma snarled.

"So I've been told. Have a nice day."

Emma shot the imp a last glare before straightening up, turning on her heel, and stalking out of the shop. She honestly should have known better than to go to Rumpelstiltskin of all people for help, but she didn't exactly have any other options.

She stomped back to her car and banged her hands on the steering wheel a few times in frustration. There was no way she was going to tell Regina about this unless she absolutely had to. Practicing magic and improving her skills? That would make Regina proud. Summoning a succubus from Hell that was apparently determined to set the two of them up? That was more likely to make the brunette pop a blood vessel.

Emma figured her best bet was to go back home and see if she could find anything on the Internet that could help her. Just as she pushed the key into the ignition, there was a loud popping sound accompanied by a puff of sulfuric black smoke and Lilith was sitting in the passenger seat.

Emma jumped and yelped in surprise. "What are you doing in my car?"

"You should go to Regina's house. She could probably use some help right about now," Lilith said. The succubus wasn't looking at Emma. Instead, she was busying herself playing with the flip-down mirror and poking around in the glove compartment. "The world has changed so much since the last time I was here. Then again, the last time I was here, it was 1860. Two hundred years is a long time."

"Put that down," Emma said when she saw Lilith playing with a tube of lipstick she had found in the glove compartment. She snatched the shiny tube out of the succubus's red hand and snapped the top back on. There was a part of her that was almost terrified that she would be struck down in her seat, but there was a bigger part of her that remembered paying ten bucks for that lipstick and she wasn't about to lose it any time soon. "What did you want?"

Lilith glared at Emma for a moment and that fear of being killed in her car rose up again, but it was gone as the succubus's face shifted into something that resembled a mischievous grin. "I said, you should go visit your queen. My only job here is to make sure that you two find happiness with each other and if you were to visit her right now, it would be a perfect opportunity to garner some goodwill."

"And I should trust you because…"

"Because I'm bound by my word. The spell you used was very specific. It was designed to hold even the lowest of fallen angels and darkest of demons and bend them to the will of the summoner. Until I'm done fulfilling your wish, I'm stuck here. Once your wish is granted, I can leave.

"And what happens if I don't play along so you can't complete the wish?" Emma asked curiously.

"Well, let's just say I can do a lot worse than just going through your stuff." Lilith's black eyes glinted and Emma was reminded that she was talking to a demon and if she knew anything about this sort of thing from watching TV shows, she knew that she should never get on a demon's bad side.

"Okay, fine. I'll go to Regina's. Is there anything I should know about before I head over?"

"Nothing important," Lilith said a grin. "Just remember to play nice."

With that, the succubus disappeared the same way she had arrived.

Emma stared blankly at the steering wheel for a good minute and a half. She had seen crazier things than a demon who seemed to think she was a genie in the past two years, but there was something about this that made it different and harder to believe than anything else she had experienced. It somehow felt more real.

Yeah, so maybe she was thinking about Regina in a way unlike that of any ordinary friend and sure, Emma would give anything to know if Regina felt the same way, but she wasn't about to just trust the word of a succubus.

Okay, maybe she was. She had done crazier things since she had come to Storybrooke. Emma started the car and dropped the tube of lipstick she was still holding onto the passenger seat.

It looked like she was paying a visit to Regina.


	4. Chapter 4

By the time Emma got to the mansion, the rain had let up and it was only drizzling. She parked on the curb and walked slowly up the walkway towards the door. It was just starting to occur to her that she needed some excuse to have come out of the blue, especially after Regina had cancelled their lesson. She wracked her brain, but nothing was coming to her.

When she reached the porch, she took a deep breath and decided to wing it. The sooner she did what Lilith wanted, the sooner she could be rid of the pesky demon.

Emma rapped her knuckles on the white door and stood back. She could hear movement on the other side before the door flew open to reveal Henry standing in the foyer.

"Emma. Hi. What's up?" he asked slowly, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Wow, kid. It's great to see you too," Emma replied with an eye roll.

"No, I meant what are you doing here?"

"Your mom cancelled our magic lesson today and I just figured I'd come by and make sure everything was okay. Mind if I come in? It's kind of wet out here."

"Oh, yeah, sure," Henry said. He stepped back from the door, pulling it open so his blonde mother could step into the house. "Mom's upstairs."

"Is everything alright?" Emma asked.

"It will be," Henry replied. At Emma's questioning look, he expanded his answer. "She's just not feeling well today."

"Is she sick?"

"Not exactly."

"Then what's wrong?" Emma asked.

"It was an accident?" Henry said almost apologetically. His eyes drifted to his sneakers that were neatly paired together on the floor next to the door.

"You didn't," Emma said. She was trying her best to use her authoritative mother tone, but there was a hint of laughter in her voice.

"I did," Henry replied. "She's okay. She's just upstairs."

"Would it be alright if I went up?" Emma asked.

"I don't see why not." Then there was a ding from the kitchen. "I've got lasagna in the microwave. Want any?"

"Maybe after. Warm some up for me?"

"Sure. Her room is the one at the end of the hall."

"Thanks, kid."

"Mmhm." With that, Henry hurried off into the kitchen, leaving Emma with no choice but to start climbing up the curved staircase.

Her boots squelched on the hardwood floor of the hallway and she cringed, knowing full well that Regina would have a few choice remarks when she saw the muddy footprints on her clean floors. The white door at the end of the hall was cracked, but before Emma could push it all the way open, she heard a voice from within.

"Miss Swan, if you think I'm going to let you step on my carpet with those boots on, you've got another thing coming."

"Good to see you too, Regina," Emma said. She slipped off her boots and set them next to the door before walking into the room. "I'll clean the floor."

"Yes, you will."

The brunette was sitting up against her headboard with a pillow behind her back. She was dressed more casually than Emma had ever seen her, in a loose maroon top and a pair of what had to be name brand jeans. Her hair and makeup were impeccable as usual and she had a tray on her lap with a pile of papers on it. Her laptop was open on the bed next to her. The only thing truly out of the ordinary was the ice pack on her right ankle that was propped up on a throw pillow.

"Henry left his shows on the stairs?" Emma asked, though she knew full well that that was what had happened.

"Yes," Regina replied, not looking up from her paperwork.

"Why didn't you call?"

"I did."

"Not what I meant."

"I had it under control," Regina said, finally looking up from her work to glare at the blonde.

"Sure you did," Emma replied. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Henry left his sneakers on the stairs, I wasn't looking where I was going, and I twisted my ankle. It's fine, but I thought staying off of it would be the best idea."

"You're probably right."

The tension in the room was palpable and Emma licked her lips. "Do you want anything?"

"Okay," Regina said, raising an eyebrow. She moved the tray off of her lap and dropped her pen on top of the papers. "What's going on?"

"What are you talking about? Nothing's going on."

"Emma, your superpower may be detecting lies, but that doesn't mean you can tell them," Regina said. "What's going on?"

"You didn't tell me why you cancelled our lesson and I was a little worried. I didn't have anything better to do, so I figured I should make sure everything was okay."

"Well, thank you," Regina said. She smiled.

"Henry's warming up some lasagna for me. Are you hungry at all?"

"No, thank you," Regina said. "Although, would you mind sending Henry up to clean the hall? It can be his punishment for leaving his shoes out."

"No problem," Emma replied with a grin. She started back towards the door, but Regina called her back.

"Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. For coming to check on me. You didn't have to, but it means a lot."

"That's what friends do," Emma replied. She smiled at the brunette once more before walking out the door and down into the kitchen.

"That's what friends do?"

The voice startled Emma and she almost dropped the plate of lasagna she was holding. She set the plate on the counter and whirled around to see Lilith leaning casually against the fridge door.

"You're trying to win the woman over and you go with 'that's what friends do'? No wonder you're not together yet."

"Awfully confident, huh?" Emma asked. She was shocked at how quickly she was getting used to the demon's presence, but then again, she'd slayed a fire-breathing dragon. It took a bit more than red skin and black eyes to faze her now.

"My wish fulfillment rate is one hundred percent," Lilith replied, flashing the blonde a grin that revealed her pointed teeth. "Highest in all the underworld."

"Well, congratulations," Emma said, finally taking a bite of her lasagna.

"On what?" Henry's voice came from the foyer and was quickly getting closer. Before Emma could swallow her mouthful of food and tell him to stop, he was already standing in the doorway. His jaw practically hit the floor when he saw Lilith.

The succubus shot him a winning smile and gave him a little half wave.

Emma swallowed her food and tried to think of some way to explain this away, but all she managed to get out was, "Please don't tell your mom!"

"Who is that?" Henry asked.

"Lilith," Lilith said, before Emma could say anything else. "Your mother summoned me from the depths of Hell and I'm here to set her up with your other mother."

"Woah."

"Henry," Emma started. "Listen to me. Your mom can't know about this. I've got it covered, all right?"

Henry ignored the blonde's words. Instead, he turned to Lilith with wide eyes and a bright smile. "Can I help?"

"You want to help me get your mothers together?" the succubus asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Sounds like fun. I want in."

"You what?" Emma asked. She could hardly believe the scene that was unfolding in front of her. A demon was trying to set her up with the ex-Evil Queen and her own son wanted to help. That was definitely enough to faze her. "No one is helping set me up with anyone. I don't…I mean, we aren't…we're friends."

"Wow," Lilith said. She took a step closer and draped her arm over Emma's shoulder. Emma tensed up, but didn't pull away. "You're seriously in denial about this."

"No, I'm not."

"Are too," Henry said.

"Come on," Lilith coaxed. "You can tell us."

"Yeah," Henry echoed. "Tell us."

Emma sighed. Now they were ganging up on her. There was really no sense in fighting it anymore. The sooner she played along, the sooner a certain succubus would be little more than a memory. "All right, fine. I like Regina. Happy?"

"Very," Lilith said with a grin. She turned to Henry. "I'll see you later." Then she disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.


	5. Chapter 5

After Lilith had left, Emma had finished her lasagna quickly and checked on Regina, who had fallen asleep with her laptop open on her lap, before hurrying back to the loft. Snow and David were eating dinner when she walked in and Neal was sleeping in his crib.

"Hey," Snow said. "We haven't seen you all day. What's up?"

"Nothing," Emma replied. Had it really only been a day? It felt like it had been so much longer. "I've been out. I'm going up to bed early tonight, I think."

"Okay," David said. "See you in the morning."

For once Emma was glad that her parents were too sleep-deprived from the new baby to pry.

When she got upstairs, she shut herself in her room and turned on her cell phone to start scouring the internet on the off-chance that there was a way to bypass the spell. Nothing turned up. The results for 'succubus' and 'summoning succubus' were far too numerous to wade through and the tidbits she could find were all useless in her situation. After almost half an hour of fruitless searching, she gave up and opened Candy Crush.

"So this is home sweet home."

The voice came before the pop and the black smoke and before Emma could react, Lilith was standing in the room next to the blonde's dresser and playing absently with the things on top.

Emma shot straight up and locked her phone, dropping it down onto the blankets next to her. "You can't be here," she hissed. "My parents are downstairs and if anyone else sees you, we're going to have a problem."

"Oh relax," Lilith said easily, waving her hand lazily at the blonde. "I'll admit, your son seeing me was really an accident. I never planned on anyone else seeing me, but he's actually a key part in granting your wish. Your parents, on the other hand, have nothing to do with this and I have no interest in interacting with anyone I don't have to."

"Awesome," Emma muttered. She dropped herself back down onto the pillows. "What are you even doing here?"

"I was bored," Lilith replied with a shrug. "Is this really where you live?"

"Yeah?" Emma wasn't sure whether or not to be offended by the question.

"Wow. We need to fix this ASAP."

"We actually don't need to do anything. I'm in the process of finding somewhere else. You only need to worry about putting some great plan into motion so that you can get me a date. Which, I might add, is not wish granting. It's playing matchmaker and I don't need a demon to do that for me."

"You know what?" Lilith said. Her voice was level, but it trembled with energy and Emma instantly knew that she had crossed a line. "Do you have any idea what granting a wish entails? I'm not a genie. I can't snap my fingers and give you what you want. You summoned me with a spell that binds me to do your will and in this case, that happens to be setting you up with the Evil Queen. You don't like it? Guess what. You don't have to. But this isn't some shoddy magic trick. This is real. My sole purpose in this world is to do this and your attitude isn't helping either of us, so shut up and let me do my thing, or I can and will sic the powers of hell on your soul, yes?"

The succubus remained eerily passive, but she was tense and Emma could feel the air in the room heating up around her. By the time Lilith was through with her tirade, the blonde was pressed as far back against the headboard as she could get.

"Sorry," she practically squeaked.

"Oh it's cool," Lilith replied with her signature grin. "I'm just messing with you."

"Really?" Emma asked, sitting up a little straighter.

"Mostly. But really, I could damn you to hell for all eternity if I wanted to."

"Good to know. So what do we do now?"

"Now you do nothing. I'm off to figure out a new approach to this. I'll contact you when I've figured something out." The demon disappeared and Emma slowly stood up and walked over to her dresser. There was a tube of lipstick missing from the clutter. Of course Lilith had taken the good stuff.

Sunday was cool and clear. Almost every trace of the previous day's rain was gone and Henry's sneakers scuffed on the sidewalk as he walked. Regina was working on some extra paperwork for a budget meeting the next day and she had sent him down to the diner to get some lunch.

"Psst. Henry."

Henry whirled around, looking for the owner of the voice and his eyes fell on the points of black horns that peeked above the top of a bush. "Lilith?" he asked. He knelt down next to the plant and was met with her jet black eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"You offered to help me with my mission and I need your input on something," the succubus replied.

"Why are you hiding in a bush?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"Actually, I don't think you could."

"Whatever. I have to talk to you."

"Okay. Want to talk over lunch? I'm heading to the diner now. Ruby makes the best grilled cheese you've ever tasted."

Lilith worried her lower lip, but after a moment, she smiled. "Sure."

She stood up and picked her way out of the bush. Once she was standing next to Henry on the sidewalk, she waved her hand in front of her body. She was engulfed in a cloud of black smoke and when it dissipated, the red demon with black wings and horns was gone. In her place was a tall woman with curly black hair and bronzed skin. She was dressed in a plain white button down over a pair of dark blue jeans with a pair of black pumps on her feet.

"Woah," Henry said. "Why didn't you just do that in the first place instead of hiding in a bush?"

"Glamor spells take a lot of energy that I didn't feel like wasting at the time. Let's just go."

Henry and Lilith picked a booth in the back of the diner so as to have some privacy. The lunch rush was just beginning and there were more people talking, so there was little chance of their conversation being overheard. After a few minutes, Ruby came over to take their orders.

"Hey, Henry," she said. "Who's your new friend?"

"This is..."

"Lily," Lilith said quickly, cutting the boy off. "I'm Lily."

"Nice to meet you, Lily," Ruby said with a bright smile. "I'm Ruby. I don't think I've ever seen you around before."

"Yes, well, I don't get out very much, but I think that's about to change soon."

"Well, I hope it does." Ruby winked at Lilith and then turned back to Henry. "And what can I get you today? Your usual?"

"Yeah, please. For both of us."

"You got it. I'll be back in a few."

Lilith waited until Ruby had walked back into the kitchen before she set her elbows on the table and leaned in closer. Before she could say anything, though, Henry grinned.

"You like her."

"Who?" Lilith asked.

"Ruby. I saw the way you looked at her. It's the same way Emma looks at my Mom. You like like her."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Is it true what you said, though?" Henry asked.

"About what?"

"Not getting out much?"

"The last time I was on Earth for this long, it was the nineteenth century and I was helping a monkey-looking guy get elected president. I've been downstairs ever since."

"Still, you like her," Henry said.

"Yeah, well, I'm a demon. It wouldn't work out anyway."

"She's a werewolf."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You might have a chance with her if you wanted it."

"We'll see," Lilith said. "Now let's get back to business. How would you feel about Emma moving into the spare room in the mansion, and more importantly, do you think you could convince your mom to let her stay?"

Emma was alone in the apartment again. Neal had his one month appointment that afternoon and her parents had decided to take him to the park beforehand because there's so much a one-month-old baby can do at a park.

But it wasn't her problem.

Emma was stretched out on the couch watching a rerun of Law and Order when the phone started ringing. She groaned and sat up, jabbing the mute button with her thumb and setting her popcorn bowl on the coffee table. She shuffled into the kitchen and grabbed the phone from the cradle on the counter.

"Hello?"

"Emma?" It was Regina.

"Hey, Regina. What's up? How's your ankle?"

"It's fine. A little sore, but nothing that can't be dealt with."

"Good. That's good."

"Yes, but that's not why I'm calling."

"Okay?" Emma asked. She wasn't entirely sure where this was going to go.

"Henry mentioned that you're looking for a place to live?"

"Yeah," Emma said. "I'm looking around. My parents are gone a lot right now, they're showing off the new baby, but I can't stay here forever. It's just not going to work."

"Well, Henry came home today with an…interesting proposition."

"Oh yeah? What's he want?"

"He suggested that you come stay in the spare room here at the mansion until you can find your own place."

"He did? Oh my God, I'm sorry." Emma could feel her cheeks heating up even though she was only talking on the phone. "I told him I was looking and he must have just thought that I meant…no. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Regina said. Emma could practically hear the smile in the brunette's voice. "In fact, I didn't think it was that ridiculous of an idea."

"Seriously?"

"Well, it does make sense in some ways. This way Henry wouldn't have to go back and forth from my house to yours and it would make the magic lessons a lot easier if we didn't have to meet in the vault. Our dinners together would be a lot easier, and you can take a little more time looking for your own place since your parents won't be reproducing like rabbits here."

"Thanks for that imagery," Emma groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose and squeezing her eyes shut. "I so did not need that."

Regina chuckled on the other end of the line.

"Are you serious? You're really asking me to move in with you?"

"Into the guest room, yes. That's only if you'd like to, of course. If you'd rather be thirty years old and still living with your parents, be my guest."

"Yes. I mean, no. I mean, let me think about it."

"Would you want to meet in person to discuss the details?" Regina asked.

Emma crumpled the note up and stuffed it into her jeans pocket. She set the phone back in its cradle, turned off the TV, and hurried upstairs. Regina had called their dinner a date. It was probably a good idea to get the popcorn out of her teeth.

"It's a date," Regina said before hanging up.

It took Emma a minute to fully digest the conversation she had just had. Regina had really just asked her to move in with her and they were going out to dinner in…she glanced at the clock. She had three hours to shower and make herself look good.

She was going on a date with Regina. Maybe there really was something behind Lilith's methods.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, there was a puff of black smoke on the counter and a folded piece of paper appeared next to Emma's hand. She grabbed it, unfolded it, and read the spiky cursive that was written on it.

Henry and I think we figured out the best way to move things forward since the last try pretty much failed. Expect a call from the Queen soon. xLilith

"Yeah. I'm in the mood for Italian tonight. Dinner at Tony's? Say around seven?"


	6. Chapter 6

"Wow." That was all Emma could say when Regina walked into the restaurant and made her way over to where the blonde was sitting.

"You don't look too bad yourself," Regina replied, nodding at Emma.

Emma looked down at her own red dress, the one nice piece of clothing she actually owned, and then back up at Regina's deep purple dress that fell just down to the brunette's knees.

"Thanks."

Regina sat down, unfolded her napkin in her lap, and started looking over the menu. Without looking up, she said, "So have you thought about it at all?"

"About what?" Emma asked. Her brain had momentarily blanked at the amount of cleavage that she could see over Regina's dress. "Oh, yeah. The moving in thing. Right. Yeah, I thought about it, but I don't really know. I mean, I wouldn't want to be a bother to you guys or anything."

"It wouldn't be a bother," Regina said. "We're something like friends now, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but the loft isn't that bad. And you might need your spare room for something else or whatever."

"Your mother was in Town Hall last week to give me some paperwork for the school and she told me they're already thinking about having more kids."

"In that case, when can I move in?" Emma asked. Regina laughed and took a sip from her water glass.

"In all seriousness, I think it would be good for Henry, at least for right now. If and when you find someplace better, you're free to leave. It's not like I'd be holding you hostage."

"Really? Belle's told me otherwise," Emma teased. She instantly regretted it, though, when she saw Regina's back stiffen and her face darken.

"Has she now?"

"No, come on," Emma said. She could tell this was going to take some damage repair and she really could not afford to mess this up. She quite liked her soul where it was, thank you very much. "Look, Regina, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that, alright?"

"I know," Regina said. She smiled, but it was still tight and tense.

Luckily, the waiter walked over at that moment to take their orders and hopefully relieve some of the tension.

The bottle of red wine he brought seemed to do the trick. After a few minutes, the hostage jab had been all but forgotten and Emma and Regina were talking and joking again.

"So I'd have to, like, pay rent or something, right? It wouldn't be right to use your electricity and water and everything and then not pay for it."

"We can work something out," Regina said. "And you'll help pay for groceries and things. I know for a fact that your salary can support that."

"You sound awfully sure that I'm coming home with you."

"Well, you haven't given me reason to doubt that yet," Regina quipped.

"I haven't made up my mind yet. I mean, I'd really love to get out of that apartment, but it would feel…wrong, you know? Living in someone else's house and everything, even if it is you and Henry."

"And how is that any different than you moving into Mary Margaret Blanchard's apartment before you knew she was your mother?"

Because I wasn't insanely attracted to her, Emma thought, but there was no way she was saying that out loud. She wracked her brain for a suitable excuse, but Regina spoke before she could come up with anything.

"It's not any different. In fact, it's even better since our son will be able to see both his parents at the same time and you'll be able to practice your magic more often. There really isn't much of a downside here."

"Alright, fine," Emma said.

"Fine what?"

"Fine, I'll move in with you. You're right. It makes the most sense and just about anything would beat sleeping in the same house as that baby. He hasn't slept through the night once yet."

"Henry didn't sleep through the whole night until he was almost three months old and by that time I was so used to being up with him that I couldn't sleep," Regina reminisced. Then she seemed to snap herself out of her reverie and fixed her gaze back on Emma. "If you want, you can come by during lunch time tomorrow and see the room. If you're still willing to move in, we can get all your things over tomorrow night."

"Sounds awesome," Emma said with a smile.

"Perfect," Regina replied. She picked up the dessert menu to try and hide her smile. "Now what would you say to some gelato?"

"I'd say hell yeah."

"So, how'd it go?" Lilith was perched on the edge of the sheriff's desk when Emma walked into the station after her lunch break on Monday afternoon.

"How'd what go?" Emma grinned as Lilith huffed out a breath, rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms over her red chest.

"Checking out the new room," the demon said.

"Oh, that. It went good."

"And…?"

"And what?"

"Are you going to move in?"

Emma hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded. "Yeah. I think I am."

"Yay!" Lilith slid off of the desk and raced over to Emma. She wrapped her arms around the blonde and squealed like a teenage girl. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! I was just thinking to myself, 'Hey, maybe if they were together more often they would start something on their own and it's actually working!"

"Yeah," Emma said. "Thanks. To be honest, I didn't think you were actually going to be able to do anything, but you proved me wrong and I owe you one."

"And I'll be sure to let you know when that one is due. So, when are you moving in?"

"Tonight."

That set off a fresh round of squealing and general excitement that was actually pretty contagious and Emma found herself becoming even more eager for the move that night.

"So how'd your parents take the news?" Lilith asked.

Oh, Emma thought. So that's what she had forgotten.

"You're what?" Snow demanded.

"Calm down," David said gently, placing a hand on his wife's back. "Things are different now and it's really up to her."

"I know, but of all the places to live, you pick Regina's mansion?"

"Yeah," Emma said.

The three of them were sitting at the dining table in the loft with steaming mugs of tea in front of them. Neal was napping peacefully for the time being, but it was only a matter of time before he woke up and started to cry again.

When Emma had sat her parents down to tell them about her plan, she had honestly expected a little more opposition than she was met with. David was taking the whole thing pretty well and Snow, though shocked, was still not as dead set against it as Emma thought she would be.

"I love you guys too," Emma said. "And on another note, can I borrow the pickup truck tonight? I have to get all my stuff over there somehow."

"Emma, that's just such a big step and with Regina of all people," Snow said.

"I know, but this is what I want to do. I'm sorry, but I figured it would be best to tell you before my stuff just disappeared."

"Thanks," David said. "And just remember that we love you no matter what you do or who you choose to live with."

"We're not really living together," Emma said. "It's more of a roommate type of thing, really."

"Okay," Snow said. She took a deep breath and gave her daughter a genuine smile. "If you want to move into the mansion, that's fine, but if anything happens, I hope you know that you can always come back here."

"I know. And this isn't anything to do with either of you guys or the baby or anything else." At least, it wasn't entirely about her parents or the baby, but Emma wasn't about to say that out loud. "It's me. I'm used to living on my own and having my own space and I can't really do that here."

"Well, your father's right. We do love you."

"We've talked it over and Regina's talked to Henry and we think it's the best thing to do right now."


	7. Chapter 7

"What's in here? Rocks?" Henry asked as he dragged one of Emma's boxes up the curved stairs.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Emma teased. She walked up the stairs and grabbed the box from him, lifting it easily and carrying it upstairs where she set it on the pile of stuff outside of her new bedroom.

"Why can't we just use magic for this?" Henry asked. "It'd make everything so much easier."

"It builds character," Emma said. "Now shut up and grab my makeup bag."

"Excuse me?" Regina's voice echoed all the way upstairs and Emma sighed when she walked downstairs to see the brunette staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Shut up and grab my makeup bag, please?" Emma tried.

"I suppose that's better," Regina said.

Henry grabbed the bag in question and hauled it upstairs to add to the pile. The last of the boxes and bags were sitting on the foyer floor waiting to go up.

"Help me?" Regina asked as she leaned down to grab one of the cardboard boxes. If Emma's eyes wandered a little, it totally wasn't her fault, but she nodded anyway and grabbed the opposite corner of the box.

Together, the pair managed to lift it and they started up the stairs, Regina facing backwards so she couldn't see where she was stepping.

Suddenly, Emma heard a gasp. Regina had miss-stepped and she dropped her end of the box as she tried to keep herself from falling. Emma quickly dropped the box entirely and extended her arms so she could catch the brunette before she face-planted.

"First day with your new legs?" Emma joked once Regina was securely in her arms.

"I'm fine," Regina said.

"These stairs must really hate you."

"Then it's lucky the Savior's here, isn't it?"

The room seemed to heat up around them. Emma could feel her cheeks getting red and she was overly aware of every place that she and Regina were touching. The brunette was looking up at her with those big brown eyes, and Emma was ready to kiss her right then and there.

At least, she was until she heard a pop and smelled sulfur. Lilith was standing on the stairs right above the pair, a huge grin on her face.

"Do it!" she exclaimed. "Go on, kiss her!"

Regina stood up, looked up at the succubus sitting on her stairs, grabbed Emma's wrist, and yanked the blonde into the kitchen, slamming the door behind them.

Emma was half hoping that the ground would open up and swallow her; judging by the look on Regina's face that would be the more desirable option. But as usual, the world refused to cooperate, and she was forced to stand there as Regina crossed her arms and tapped one manicured finger against her upper arm. There was only one word that came out of her mouth.

"Explain."

"Okay, so basically what happened was I accidentally read this spell when I had a bunch of candles in a circle and apparently it summoned the succubus who's essentially like a genie, only she doesn't like genies and she can't go back to Hell until she's granted my wish."

"And where did you find this spell?" Regina asked.

"In a book."

"And where was the book?"

"On the floor."

"On the floor where?"

Emma swallowed hard and refused to meet Regina's eyes before responding, "In your vault."

When she didn't hear a reply, she looked up. Regina's lips were pressed into a thin line and her eyes were dark with barely concealed fury.

"You were in my vault."

"Yeah."

"When?"

"Saturday."

"Why?"

"You cancelled our lesson and I was bored, so I figured I'd practice."

"And you thought that the best way to practice magic was to read a strange spell and just wait and see what happened?"

"Well, before that I actually lit some candles and levitated them." Regina's gaze could burn a hole through Emma's skull. "I didn't think anything bad was going to happen."

"Oh really? And what did you think was going to happen, hm? Were you expecting it to rain candy or something? You're just like your mother. You never think of the consequences of your actions."

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Emma said. "I screwed up and I tried to get Gold to fix it, but he wouldn't help me and I thought I could handle it and you'd never find out, but then this happened and I don't know."

That seemed to pacify Regina a little, but her arms were still crossed. "You mentioned a wish. What exactly did you wish for?"

"It wasn't really a conscious thing. I mean, Lilith…"

"Lilith?" Regina demanded. "You named it?"

"She came pre-named, all right? Let me finish."

Regina nodded.

"Lilith read my mind or something and she found out my 'heart's deepest desire' and she has to fulfill that desire before she can go back to wherever she came from."

"Okay, so what's your desire?"

Emma looked down at the floor and shifted her weight from foot to foot. She wasn't going to lie about it. She couldn't do that to herself. She took a deep breath in and then let it out.

"You."

"Me?"

"You."

There was a long moment of silence. Then Regina opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off by the pop and the smoke that signified Lilith's arrival.

"So are you guys going to kiss or what?" she asked.

Regina pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "I swear to God, Emma."

"So what's going on?" Lilith questioned. "Did I interrupt something? I'm sorry."

"No, you're not interrupting anything." Regina smirked and looked directly at Emma. "In fact, Emma was just going to get the rest of her things upstairs without magic and she's going to prepare herself to not be allowed to use magic at all until she fixes this situation."

"What?" Emma whined. "No fair! It was only an accident."

"An accident that will never happen again," Regina said. "And I'm going to make sure of that." She waved her hand and Emma felt her blood run cold for a second. When it faded back to normal, she felt lighter somehow. It took a moment for her to realize that she wasn't feeling her magic anymore.

"You took my powers!" she exclaimed.

"No, I locked them. When you fix this…" Regina gestured to Lilith. "Then I'll unlock them. In the meantime, I think you can handle not using magic for a little while. Or a long while. Whatever the case may be."

"Whatever," Emma huffed. She turned to Lilith. "You, get lost. I don't want to see you right now." Then she turned on her heel and stomped out of the room like a petulant child.

With that, she ducked back out of the kitchen and Regina could hear her dragging her boxes up the stairs.

Suddenly, the door swung open and Emma popped her head back inside. "You know, maybe if we played along and pretended to be a couple, we could trick her into leaving," she suggested.

"Not a chance," Regina snapped.

"Fair enough. And just to be clear, I can still have the room, right? I already had to tell my parents I was moving out today and I really don't want to have to move back in on the same day, you know?"

Regina rolled her eyes. "Yes, you can still have the room."

"Okay, cool. I'll…I'll see you later then."

Lilith glanced at the clock on the microwave that read 6:27. "Is it that time already? Shit, I have a date." The succubus waved her hand in front of her demonic red body to cast a glamour spell before disappearing in the same way she had arrived, leaving Regina all alone in the empty kitchen.


	8. Chapter 8

They were eating at Granny's mostly because Ruby could get them free food there, but Lilith didn't mind. When the waitress came over, still in her uniform, the disguised demon sat up a little straighter and smiled.

"Hey."

"Hey, Lily," Ruby replied, sliding into the seat across from her. "You remembered."

"How could I forget?" Lilith teased. "I've been looking forward to this all day."

"Me too."

There was a long pause then. Lilith brushed a stray curl behind her ear and Ruby fiddled the salt and pepper shakers. Neither woman dropped their smile, though.

Lilith had gone back to Granny's for dinner after her lunch with Henry on Sunday with the sole intention of asking Ruby out on a date. She had relied on the glamour spell again, partly so Ruby would recognize her, but mostly so that she didn't freak out the other townspeople.

She had done that accidentally in 1860 and almost got burned at the stake. Apparently the love of setting people on fire had persisted a lot longer than most people thought.

Luckily, Lilith had managed to catch the waitress on the tail end of her shift and made her offer. If there was one good thing about being a succubus, it was the natural sexual appeal, especially when she was under a glamour spell. Ruby readily agreed and new here they were.

"I'm glad you came," Ruby said.

"Yeah," Lilith replied. "Me too."

The message came late that night. The knowledge just appeared in her head as clear as day.

This wish is a big one. Grant it and you will earn your freedom. You have twenty-four hours.

Lilith nodded to herself. Freedom was something that a succubus could only dream about. Earning it meant that she would be able to stick around after Emma's wish was fully granted. She could stay with Ruby and eat lunch at the diner and hang out with Henry if she wanted.

She couldn't remember ever hearing of a succubus actually earning her freedom, though. If she was getting freed for completing a wish, it had to be a pretty important one, but that just made her all the more ready to do it.

She only had one day to do it in. She was going to need some help.

When Henry got out of school on Tuesday afternoon, the first thing he saw was Lilith leaning up against a lamp post, waiting for him. She was under a glamour spell again, but he instantly recognized her anyway.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in lieu of a greeting.

"Waiting for you actually. I want to talk."

"About what?"

"Stuff. Like, how is it having both your moms living together?"

Henry readjusted his backpack on his shoulders. "It's pretty cool. I mean, something must've happened between them. Things were a little less friendly than usual, but Emma made really good chocolate chip pancakes this morning and she drove me to school and I think we're going to have dinner all together tonight, so it's good."

"That's awesome. I really need your help with something, though. I got kind of an ultimatum last night and I figured you could help me cook up some new ideas."

"Sure. What do you need?"

"Essentially I have the rest of the day to get your moms to kiss, or I get called back to Hell for the rest of eternity and I really can't cancel on my date with Ruby tomorrow."

"How long have you known about this?" Henry asked.

"Since last night."

"And what have you been doing all day?"

Lilith immediately jumped on the defensive. "I was trying to think of something, but I don't do all that great under pressure and I figured you could think of something, so I was waiting for you."

"A fight," Henry said instantly.

"What?"

"A fight. We have to make my moms fight. Not like a real fight, but like something dumb that they can argue over. Their whole relationship started with conflict. If anything's going to happen, it's going to be during conflict."

"How old are you again?" Lilith asked.

"Thirteen."

"And you've spent how long thinking this over?"

"Hey, if you didn't come along, I was going to have to do this myself and I know my moms. Trust me. We get them worked up over something dumb and then just wait for the heat of the moment to come."

"You know, I don't know a lot about teenage boys," Lilith started. "But I still think it's kind of weird that you put this much thought into making your parents kiss."

"Do you want my help or not?" Henry asked.

"Yeah, of course. I was just saying."

"Well, stop saying and start thinking. What can we use to start them fighting?"

They decided on food. Henry knew that Regina kept a secret stash of cookies in the cabinet under the kitchen sink and it was easy enough to sneak them upstairs before she and Emma got home. Then he planted himself at the dining room table to do his homework.

It was 5:30 on the dot when Regina walked in and after she kissed the top of Henry's head, she went straight to the kitchen to get her chocolate chip cookies, but they weren't there.

"Henry?" she called.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Did you touch my cookies?"

"What cookies?"

"I know you know what cookies. The ones I keep under the sink that you aren't allowed to touch."

"No, I didn't touch them."

Regina walked back into the dining room and fixed her son with a piercing glare. "Are you sure?"

"Positive." Regina started to walk away, but Henry quickly regained her attention by saying, "I think I saw Emma in that cabinet this morning. Maybe she took them?"

Regina's eyes narrowed, but she nodded. "Thank you, Henry. Are you almost done with your homework?"

"Yeah."

"Good." With that, the brunette turned and walked into her study, the door shutting loudly behind her.

"For the last time, Regina, I have no idea what you're talking about!"

Henry was sitting cross-legged on his bed, his DS in his hand, and yet he could still hear Emma's words perfectly. He grinned and when Lilith popped in next to him, he didn't even flinch.

"It's started?" she asked.

"Yeah. Give it a few minutes and they'll be making out like teenagers."

"Again I say, you've put way too much thought into this."

"It's not like I want to watch or anything. Now shut up and listen."

The pair fell silent, but there was nothing.

"Do you think they killed each other?" Lilith asked.

"No, just wait for it," Henry said.

There was still nothing.

"Maybe we should go check on them."

"Yeah," Henry set his DS down on the bed and rolled off it. He and Lilith walked out into the hallway and sat on the stairs where they would be able to hear better. Henry wasn't sure about actually walk into what could amount to an active war zone. Regina could get really protective of her cookies.

"I hate you." Regina's voice was muffled through the kitchen door and Henry and Lilith crept downstairs into the living room.

"Then why'd you ask me to move in with you?" Emma countered.

"Because I love you, you idiot," Regina snapped.

Henry grinned at Lilith, but the succubus shook her head. "It's not enough to just say they love each other. They actually have to kiss," she whispered.

"You hate me, but you love me?" Emma asked. "How does that even make any sense?"

"Come on," Lilith hissed. "Come on." Her freedom was so close she could practically taste it.

Regina's response was so quiet that they couldn't even hear it through the door. Henry chanced a few steps closer, but there was still no sound. He looked back at Lilith and raised an eyebrow, but she just shrugged and shook her head, then tapped her wrist a few times to remind him of the approaching deadline.

Henry eased the door open a crack and peeked inside.

Regina and Emma were mere inches apart and the air seemed to be crackling with energy.

"What was that?" Emma asked. "I couldn't hear you."

"I said you're an idiot and I love you," Regina mumbled in response. Before she could say anything else, a pair of warm, soft lips touched her cheek and she felt a pink blush creep up her face.

"I knew it," Emma said, pulling away with a cheeky grin. "You love me."

"Says the woman who summoned a succubus from Hell because she was too scared to ask me out."

"Excuse me? I asked you out to Tony's, didn't I?"

"I would hardly call that a date, dear," Regina said.

"Really? Because if I remember right, that's exactly what you called it."

"Oh, so that's how it is?"

"That's how it is."

"Are you going to give me a real kiss this time?" Regina challenged.

"It would be my pleasure," Emma said.

Their lips met somewhere in the middle and this time, it was a real kiss. Henry ducked his head out of the door just as Lilith cheered loudly from the living room.

"I'm free!" she cried. "I can feel it!"

"Genie, you're free," Henry teased, but he shut up when she shot him a sharp glare.

"Not a genie," she snapped.

"Not a genie," he repeated.

Emma and Regina hurried out of the kitchen, Emma wiping traces of red lipstick off of her mouth. "What's going on?" she asked.

Lilith grinned. "I'm calling in my end of the bargain now. Emma, I may need your help talking to Ruby for me."

"I thought you were already dating her," Henry said.

"I am, but always under a glamour spell. I got you two together, so Emma, you need to talk to Ruby for me and make sure that she's cool with me like this too. Wings, horns, and all."

"Like I said," Regina muttered, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "You're an idiot. And you owe me cookies."

"Actually, Mom, your cookies are upstairs. I took them. It was for Lilith's plan."

"Oh, I'll get them," Emma said. She held out her hand, palm up and closed her eyes in concentration. It took a few seconds, but the package of cookies appeared in her hand in a puff of white smoke. Regina looked confused, but Emma just shrugged. "Kissing you unlocked my powers again. I'll be more careful with them this time though. No reading strange spells, no summoning demons, no nothing. Just you and me and our lessons."

"Of which there will hopefully be a lot more," Regina said, slipping her arm around Emma's waist and pulling the blonde closer for another kiss.

"Definitely."

Henry turned away and fake gagged and Lilith laughed. "Not so great when you have to watch, now is it?" she asked.

After a few seconds, the pair broke apart and Lilith looked expectantly at Emma.

"Okay, fine. I'll call Ruby for you, just give me a minute."

"All right, let me see what I can do."

"No," Regina said, grabbing the cookies out of Emma's hand. "You'll call Ruby now. You'll get me after she-" she pointed at Lilith. "…is gone."


	9. Epilogue

It was a rainy Saturday afternoon. If Emma thought about it, it was sort of ironic, but she really didn't give it that much thought. Instead, she was putting almost all of her energy into levitating boxes up the stairs, which, to be fair, was probably wasting way more energy than it would take to just carry them up, but her way was more fun.

"You've only been here like a month," she complained. "How do you even have this much stuff?"

"Most of it's mine, actually," Ruby said from her spot on the couch in her new living room. "Lily really doesn't have that much."

"Remind me again why you guys aren't helping me?" Emma asked.

"Because, dear," Regina said. "Lilith and Ruby wouldn't even be moving in together if it wasn't for you in the first place, so it's only fair that you help."

"This isn't helping. This is doing," Emma muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Regina called.

"Nothing."

"Emma, I made some cupcakes for the occasion," Belle said, her hand resting on her barely-there baby bump. "You can grab one if you want it."

"I'm good, thanks," Emma glanced over at the couch where Belle, Regina, and Ruby were all sitting and watching as she struggled to float the boxes up the stairs. "Where's Lilith, anyway? Shouldn't she be helping too?"

"She's picking up the pizza," Ruby replied. "She just texted me. She and Henry'll be here in a few."

"Awesome," Emma muttered. She lifted her arms again and concentrated on levitating the last box up the stairs before walking over to the couch and all but collapsing on Regina's lap.

"Nice job," Regina said, absently running her fingers through her girlfriend's hair. "You're getting a lot better at making things move the way you want them to."

"Well, I have a great teacher," Emma replied, lifting her head up to capture the brunette's lips with her own.

"Food's here!" Lilith exclaimed as she threw the door open and all but dropped the pizza boxes on the table. Henry followed her in with two bottles of soda in his arms.

"Hey, babe," Ruby said. She stood up and walked over to the succubus, snaking one arm around a red waist and tangling her fingers in long, black hair.

*End*

Now, only about a month later, Ruby and Lilith had gotten an apartment together and Emma's magic mistake had almost been completely forgotten. Almost.

But it didn't really matter now. Belle pushed herself up and hurried over to the table to get first dibs on the pizza. Henry was already pouring himself a cup of root beer, and Ruby and Lilith didn't look they were going to be moving in the immediate future.

"Are you hungry?" Regina asked, looking down at Emma who was still sprawled out on her lap.

"Yeah."

"Well, are you planning on getting up anytime soon?"

"No. Too comfy."

"Henry," Regina called. "Can you bring me a piece of cheese pizza, please?" He nodded and the brunette went right back to combing her fingers through long blonde hair.

It had been a pretty crazy ride to get to this point, but for the moment, Emma hummed in contentment and closed her eyes. For an instant, all was right with the world.

Ruby had actually taken the 'Lily's actually a demon and her real name is Lilith do you still want to go out with her?' news surprisingly well. That made Emma's life a whole lot easier and though Lilith was still hanging around town, she wasn't interfering in Emma and Regina's lives anymore, so that was always a plus.


End file.
